


Quirky

by scrawly_times



Category: Tales of Arcadia (Cartoons), Trollhunters - Daniel Kraus & Guillermo del Toro
Genre: AKA the humans all have quirks and the trolls are infinitely confused, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Quirks (My Hero Academia), Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Multi, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Queerplatonic Relationships, Quirk Au, best sidekick toby Domzalski, like bnha isn't really in this so it's not tagged but that's basically what the quirks are
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-05
Updated: 2020-02-06
Packaged: 2021-02-28 03:46:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,337
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22567282
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scrawly_times/pseuds/scrawly_times
Summary: Trolls aren't super good at keeping up with human society, so the whole 'superpowers' thing caught them by surprise.Jim is just glad having extra hands makes swordwork a lot easier, Toby's just glad he has the PERFECT sidekick quirk, and Claire still can't tell if the boys are dating or not.(Hint: they're not so sure either.)
Comments: 18
Kudos: 112





	1. It's Not True Friendship if it's not a LITTLE gay

**Author's Note:**

> S o hello guys!! This AU is literally just... the kids have super powers. The universe is like, vaguely bnha. I'm using My Hero Academia as a basis for the background behind quirks - the name for the superpowers - but you don't need any bnha knowledge to make sense of it! Like seriously at all. 
> 
> I hope you guys enjoy!

Jim woke up with a start, magazine sliding down his face. He caught it with an invisible hand on reflex, holding it up and yawning. Another invisible hand reached out to stop his alarm’s beeping while he sat up. 6 AM, precisely when he needed to be up. 

He walked downstairs, stretching his real arms above him. He pulled every one of the invisible hands he had and stretched them out as well. It could get a bit crowded with so many limbs so he usually didn’t bother with all of them outside of morning stretches. The mental strain of manifesting all of them was a bit harsh but it was a good way to wake up in the morning. 

Jim got started cleaning and organizing the house, many hands visible or not making quick work of almost everything. He had to pay close attention during delicate tasks like chopping but having an extra set of hands or more made cooking and cleaning a breeze. 

He finally finished a tray of food and went upstairs, slowly opening his mom’s door. She was fast asleep and the note on the door suggested she’d be asleep for a long time today. 

Jim smiled and took her glasses off, setting the tray down. He knew she didn’t like him doing so much with his quirk but it made taking care of her so much easier. He didn’t know how to explain that his quirk was just… another set of hands, like actual limbs to him. It wasn’t even a strain unless he had more than six out or was trying to do something ridiculous like pick up a dumpster. 

Besides, it meant he could multitask for _everything._

Jim opened the garage door and took a nice deep breath of morning air- 

That was spoiled by the smell of the garbage can, spilled over and scattered across the driveway. 

“Raccoons.” Jim groaned, leaning his bike over and picking the trash up with his invisible hands. Didn’t even need to wash them afterwards - they disappeared when he didn’t need them. 

“Man, it’s been what, ten years I’ve known you and your weird hand quirk? And it’s _still_ weird seeing you use it.” Toby rolled his bike up, grinning. 

“What can I say, it’s useful.” Jim stood up, trash ‘floating’ around him as he tossed it all into the garbage. 

“Cutting it a bit close there, Jimbo! Much later and we’d be late for school.” Toby buckled his helmet on clumsily. 

“Sorry Tobes, busy with the lunches.” Invisible hands popped open his backpack as Jim pulled his own helmet on. “One for me, one for Mom, and one for you.” Toby took the bagged lunch excitedly. 

“Ahh!” Toby busied himself with listing the ingredients off as Jim shook off the extra hands and got on his bike. Before they got started Toby winced and rubbed the back of his head. “Oh, uh, wanted to ask you if-” 

Jim laughed and held a hand out casually, a real one. “Tether up, Tobes, you know I don’t mind.” 

Toby huffed awkwardly and flung his hand out. A glowing line launched from his hand to connect to the center of Jim’s chest, halfway glowing orange on Toby’s side and glowing a light blue on Jim’s side. 

“Thanks Jim, just feeling a little anxious today, yanno?” Toby groaned. “You’d think I’d get annoyed being like, empathically tethered to people all the time but _noooo_ stupid quirk means I get anxious when I’m _not.”_ He waved a hand behind him at the glowing line extending behind him, turning light yellow halfway towards his Nana’s house. 

“I keep telling you Tobes, I don’t mind!” Jim patted Toby on the shoulder. “If you don’t care about me using my quirk all the time and freaking you out, I don’t care if you have to use your quirk on me to make sure I’m okay. Besides, it’s sweet you care so much.” 

Toby groaned and covered his face with his hands. “Yeah see, this is why half the school thinks we’re dating.” 

Jim snorted and covered his mouth. “Are you sure it’s that and not the fact that you can’t get a date?” 

“Hey! I haven’t found the right girl yet!” Toby crossed his arms with a huff. “At least it _is_ kinda hilarious. Have you heard? Apparently you’re _cheating_ on me, Jim dear!” Toby clasped his hands together and fluttered his eyelashes dramatically while Jim burst into hysterics. 

“With _who?”_ Jim nearly fell over laughing, clutching his stomach and frantically pulling invisible hands out to keep his bike from falling over. 

“Apparently you making lovestruck eyes at Claire is so noticeable they think you’re gonna _break up_ with me for her!” Toby laid a hand dramatically across his forehead, wailing. “How _could_ you, Jim?!” 

“Shh, shh!” Jim cackled, trying to keep it quiet. “My mom’s window is right up there dude, don’t wake her up!” He shoved Toby with a hand briefly. “Come on, let’s get going before we really _are_ late.” 

They both rode off on their bikes, having to go slow because they were still laughing so hard. 

It sucked having an empathic quirk, Jim knew that. Toby’s was pretty selective since he had to have a ‘tether’ on someone first but jerks at their school teased him for having his tethers. It wasn’t like they could hide the glowing lines that followed Toby everywhere and usually kept him and Jim linked. Toby got anxious when he wasn’t linked to anyone. 

Not that Jim cared what anyone thought, Toby’s quirk just made him a lot more sensitive than most guys. Anyone who did even a five second Google search could find out that people with empathic type quirks made extreme attachments and experienced heightened anxiety when apart from the people they attached to. 

Jim knew it was just how Toby helped take care of the people he cared about. When his Nana was feeling down Toby could tell, and he’d bring her flowers or donuts on his way home from school. When Jim was struggling in class or getting distracted Tobes knew to nudge him and knew exactly what to say to get him on track. 

If that made Toby and him weird than Jim didn’t want to know what the jerks at their school did for their friends, because clearly it wasn’t enough. 

“I’m right… I’m right behind!” Toby wheezed, definitely not right behind him. 

Jim slowed down a bit and waved his real hands, invisible hands holding his handlebars. “Look Tobes! No hands!” He laughed at Toby’s squawk. 

“Dude you know how freaky it looks when you do that, stop it!!” Toby reached a hand out to the glowing line separating them and _pulled_ on it until it became solid. “If you’re gonna scare the heck out of me then you get to tow me around!” The glowing line was more solid and like a rope now, keeping them attached and not changing length. 

“Challenge accepted!” Jim dismissed his fake hands and leaned over his bike handles seriously. 

“Wait what- no no no Jiiiiiim!!!!” Toby _yelped_ as Jim sped them both up, legs pedaling faster and faster. 

“We’ll take the canal, just keep your bike standing up and you’ll be fine!” Jim laughed loudly as Tobes screamed behind him. 

The ride through the forest was bumpy and rough as usual, Jim having to maneuver differently to avoid whiplashing Toby through a tree. Good thing this wasn’t the first time they’d done this!

“Not the canal!” Toby wailed. 

“Oh live a little!” Jim didn’t look back. If Toby was _actually_ scared, he’d just dismiss the tether for a minute or two to stop Jim from towing him along. 

“It’s living that I’m worried about!” Toby groaned, voice wobbling from the bumpiness. 

“Come on Tobes, don’t you ever want a little more excitement?” Jim grinned, having a blast as he whipped them both through the trees. 

Toby’s laugh was reluctant but happy, feeding off Jim’s adrenaline rush through the tether. “Fine fine! Just don’t crash us or I’m tethering to you for a week _straight!”_

“Worrywort!” Jim called back as they finally came out of the trees. 

The launch through the air was a _blast_ and Jim whooped excitedly as they flew over the side of the concrete walls. Toby was screaming, a little excited, a little terrified. He dismissed the tether midair so they wouldn’t crash in a reenactment of their first summer vacation together. 

Jim slid his bike to a halt, laughing and breathing harshly. It was _pretty_ hard to tow someone else on a bike at top speed but it was _worth it._ Toby nearly crashed his bike once he got to the bottom but stopped it last second, wheezing and toppling over. 

“If I… die of a heart attack… I’m taking you with me, Jimbo!” Toby’s hand pointed directly up before tossing his tether back onto Jim. 

“That works one way and you _know_ it.” Jim crouched next to him, still beaming. The excitement, the rush of adrenaline, it was _amazing._ Toby rolled over onto his back with a reluctant groan. He felt every bit of Jim’s adrenaline rush. 

“The fact that you’re trying to make me love crazy stunts through my tether is foul play, Jim Lake Junior. Foul play.” Toby hissed dramatically but Jim knew he wasn’t serious. 

He stood up and went to grab his bike but stopped, hearing a weird… echo. A hum, or something. Jim set his bike down carefully and turned to find the source. 

“You alright Jim? Got serious there all of a sudden.” Toby sat up reluctantly, groaning and muttering something about bubble wrap. 

Jim walked up to a conspicuous pile of rubble and stone, feeling… weird. It looked like someone had dropped a bunch of rocks off the overpass. Toby grabbed his elbow nervously. 

“What is it? Dude, you’re freaking my delicate empathic sensibilities out, Jim!” Toby shook his arm. 

“Sorry, sorry- just… did you hear that?” Jim walked closer to the rocks. 

“Hear what?” 

_‘James… Lake…’_

Both of them yelped, jumping back. 

“That!” Jim pointed to the rocks, mind racing. “That pile of rocks knows my name!” 

“Oh gosh, you think it’s a quirk? Oh my god oh my gosh oh my gosh, do you think the _rocks_ are from someone’s quirk? Do you think some sort of rock person fell off the bridge and broke into a million pieces and we’re hearing his ghost? Wait no ghosts aren’t real- _or are they?”_

Jim reached an invisible hand behind him mindlessly, patting Toby comfortingly. “It’s… it’s fine, probably not a ghost.” He shifted through rocks with several hands and then paused. Something with… blue light? 

He moved a rock to see a glowing amulet. 

“Do you think we’re being pranked? We’re totally being punked right now, some jerks with some weird quirks are just trying to prank us!” Toby turned around sounding indignant. “Who’s doing this? Come out now!” 

“It just looks like an amulet.” He felt… he felt weird, like something was judging him. Toby went very silent next to him for a long moment. 

“Dude… dude it’s doing something.” Toby shook his arm again, sounding panicked. “I can feel it doing something with you! Are you okay? Is it mind control? No, probably not-” 

“Tobes, I’m fine.” Jim shook his head. “I don’t feel anything, I just feel… like this is something big.” He held the amulet up. “Hello? I’m listening, whoever, or whatever you are..?” 

Nothing. 

“It stopped.” Toby reported, clinging to Jim’s shoulder. “But I swear I can feel it.” 

“Like you’re tethered to it?” Jim’s eyes widened. 

“No no, like… I can still feel it through _your_ tether.” Toby bit his lip. “It’s freaking me out a lot, man.” 

“Hello?” Jim shook it lightly and tilted his ear towards it. “Do you think it’s a person? Someone with a quirk accident? Those happen sometimes, right?” 

“I dunno man, but-” 

A bell rang in the distance and made both of them jump. 

“First bell!” Jim jumped to his feet, extra hands shoving and pulling him and Toby up and towards their bikes. “We gotta get to school before we’re _actually_ late!” 

Toby followed him without pause, neither of them noticing six eyes watching them from a nearby sewer grate.

* * *

During History class Jim was busy staring at Claire, mushy gushy feelings echoing faintly through the tether. Toby gagged and waved a hand in front of Jim’s face. If he kept this up _Toby_ was going to end up with a crush on Claire, just from secondhand exposure. 

“Dude, stop, you’re drooling.” He huffed and crossed his arms. He tried to ignore the bit of jealousy he felt. Toby knew it was just being a stupid empath and getting dumbly attached to people more than _actually_ being jealous. He just wished Jim would stop being ridiculous about his crush and _do something_ about it. 

“No, I’m not.” Jim didn’t even look away and Toby threw up his hands in defeat. 

He was considering turning off Jim’s tether so he wouldn’t have to deal with mushy gushy crushes clogging up his brain. The spike of anxiety he felt just _thinking_ about that made him sigh and give it up. He’d have to figure out a way to block it out. 

“Hey, look up ‘talking amulet quirk’.” Jim whispered, still not looking away. Freaking ridiculous. The keys in front of him were clacking even with his real hands holding up his face and Toby knew Jim was looking up something using his quirk. _Extra_ freaky, Toby still had to look at the keyboard when he typed. He guessed having to use invisible hands made you memorize keyboards faster. 

“I did, but all I got was some stuff about toys, some people with like muppet voice projecting quirks, and even this cute plushie.” He angled his screen so Jim could see. 

Then Mr. Strickler walked up and Toby panicked, looking towards his screen. Jim was feeling a bit embarrassed but not enough that it registered as anything other than a faint tug on the tether. Fair enough, Mr. Strickler was called Mr. _Strict-_ ler but Jim was one of his favorites. Jim wasn’t afraid of him at _all._

Toby picked up his books and bag, packing it up. The tether was a comforting weight in the back of his head. One short and glowing brightly between him and Jim and the other faintly glowing and stretching through the school walls. If Toby focused he could feel Nana feeling shocked, amused, and fascinated in turn. Her soap operas must be on. 

Jim felt a bit awkward and then embarrassed and Toby tuned back in just in time to hear Mr. Strickler deliver a _golden_ line. 

“I submit that talking _to_ will be much more effective than staring _at.”_ He even bopped Jim gently on the top of the head with his book, Toby laughing at the embarrassment he could feel from Jim. “Problem, Mr. Domzalski?” 

“Nope, Mr. Strickler!” He straightened up. Most of the teachers didn’t like him because his tethers extended through walls and in everyone’s way, apparently. Not his fault and if they were in the way they could just be _walked through_ but hey. “Just waiting on Jimbo! To make a _move_ already, yeesh.” Jim spluttered. “Dude I have to deal with secondhand feeling your mushy crush like every day, at least it would be tolerable if you actually _talked_ to her.” 

Strickler was chuckling at them as they walked out, though looking faintly confused. The exact details of Toby’s quirk was always something the school liked to gossip about. That gossip was what spawned the rumor that they were dating anyways.

* * *

Gym class was always… interesting. Jim wasn’t allowed to do the rope climb anymore since he kept accidentally using his quirk. Even when he _tried_ just using his flesh and bone hands, his invisible ones were… they were just so natural to use. And they were a lot stronger than his real ones, not to mention there were a lot more of them. 

So rope climbs were stupid easy for Jim. Which was bad, considering he wasn’t technically allowed to _use_ his quirk during gym class. Considering it was a ‘telekinetic’ quirk as far as anyone else knew. Only physical quirks and natural bodies allowed, as Coach Lawrence said. 

At least he was allowed to stay and cheer on Toby. Poor guy sucked at these sorts of physical things. Maybe that diet he was trying to do for the past fourteen years was a bit needed, but Toby stress ate a _lot._ It happened when your quirk made you anxious all the time. 

Jim looked over and saw Claire and her friends talking on the bleachers. His mouth went dry and he felt a faint tug. Toby mouthed ‘go on’ from next to Coach Lawrence giving him a lecture. 

“Pay attention to me, Domzalski!” Lawrence bellowed. “Your boyfriend can wait!” Jim’s mood soured a bit but Toby rolled his eyes and made a shooing motion. Jim got the feeling if Toby could project his emotions the other way across the tether he’d be telling Jim to go talk to Claire. 

So Jim took a deep breath and walked on over. He tried to be sly about it, hands sweaty as he waved. 

_“Buenas noches!”_ He stalled briefly. Wait, that wasn’t right- that was- _shoot he’d just told her ‘good night’-_

“You… speak Spanish?” Claire said, head tilting slightly. She looked like she was about to laugh but it didn’t seem meanspirited. 

“I- uh- um-” Jim watched as her friends followed the glowing line from him to Toby, still getting yelled at by Coach Lawrence. His heart sank as they nudged her and giggled. Darci pointed at the line and Claire followed it, looking faintly uncomfortable. 

“Come on, girls.” They stood up and walked away. Jim didn’t bother trying to follow them, a deeply unpleasant feeling deep in his gut. 

Yeah, so his best friend worried about him. Yeah, so they were a bit closer than best friends usually were. It didn’t mean _anything._ Not to these people that didn’t even _know_ what Toby’s quirk was like. 

Claire turned away but stopped briefly, a third eye blinking open slightly on her forehead. 

“Do you like Shakespeare?” All her eyes blinked at once. Jim was too distracted by the pretty brown of them to realize what she’d said. 

“What?” 

“Do you like Shakespeare?” She repeated. Claire brushed her bangs over her forehead, third eye closing. Jim couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed that she hid it behind her bangs all the time. 

“Shakespeare?” Jim said dumbly, feeling like a broken record. 

“The school play.” Claire pulled a flyer out of her backpack without pause, as if she’d been ready for it. “We’re… having trouble getting boys to audition.”

“Oh! Uh.” Jim didn’t get anything else out as she smiled at him, fussing with her bangs while she walked away. _“Hasta huevo…”_ Wait. That wasn’t right- 

“It’s like a flabby pinata! And I’m _pretty_ sure you’re filled with candy!” 

Coach Lawrence’s bellow made him turn around and see Toby lying there miserably. When Toby saw him he lit up and gave a thumbs up, mouthing Claire’s name. Jim smiled slightly and chuckled. It didn’t matter what weird rumors people started up about Toby and Jim, they were best friends and Toby _always_ had his back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My spanish isn't great but it's good enough I can always tell when Jim is messing it up HILARIOUSLY despite his surprisingly decent accent. Actually, the absolutely beautiful and accurate spanish accents in trollhunters always has me SUPER happy 
> 
> It may help you guys to have some quirk descriptions for the kiddos! 
> 
> Jim Lake Jr. Quirk: Helping Hands. Most people assume his quirk is merely a telekinetic one like his mother's, but to Jim it's more like he can summon extra hands to help him that are invisible to everyone else. Ohhh boy is he right. 
> 
> Toby Domzalski. Quirk: Tether. He can 'tether' other people to himself, being able to follow the noncorporeal tether back to them wherever it is. Has mildly empathic abilities to anyone attached to him via tether. If he puts some strength into it he can make the tether solid and physical. It's suspected that if they tried the tether could be used both ways, but for now it's one-way; aka Toby can tell what Jim's feeling but Jim can't tell anything from him. Has a typical empath reaction of being mildly obsessive over anyone (or anything) he's tethered to. He tries to reign that part of him in though. 
> 
> I'll add quirk descriptions in as we go and/or as y'all request. For now though, yes! Claire has a third eye. She hides it behind her bangs and it's important to her quirk.


	2. Toby Tries to Fight a Troll

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things are a little accelerated, after all when the resident empath notices his best friend getting hit on the head and freaking the fuck out he's not just gonna sit at home waiting for an explanation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HEY GUYS thanks for the attention and commentary, hope this chapter answers some of your questions ;)

“I can’t believe you managed to talk to her!” Toby was so excited. “I mean it was only like, what, three words? And most were repeating what she said back to her. But you talked to her!” 

“I unleashed my  _ Espanol  _ on her.” Jim said, embarrassment and excitement coming from him in turn. “Pretty sure I messed it up too, but she didn’t say anything about it!” 

“Dude, that means she at  _ least  _ won’t make fun of you for saying dumb stuff! That’s like, the first step to finding out if she likes you.” Toby grinned. He was so glad Jim had finally grown a freaking spine! Even if it didn’t go very well. “You should totally do it!” A faint bit of anxiety from Jim’s tether had Toby rolling his eyes. 

“What, the play? I’m not an actor.” Oh that was a  _ total  _ copout if Toby had ever heard one. 

“Come on! You’re always saying how you want your life to be more exciting! Right?” Toby sat up from the floor, rubbing his head. Maybe if he was having trouble just putting  _ socks  _ on he should really start taking that diet seriously… 

“I don’t mean just, you know,  _ exciting.  _ I mean…” Jim went quiet and Toby listened carefully. 

He didn’t need to say anything for Toby to feel what Jim was nearly screaming across the tether. A pretty easy trick they’d found out waaaay back when for when Jim couldn’t figure out how to say something. 

Jim wanted something  _ more.  _ Something meaningful. Some purpose, something  _ better  _ than just high school. 

“Yeah, I got ya buddy.” He said softly. Toby sighed and leaned over to try and get his socks on again, feeling that weird longing from Jim’s tether. It made him a little antsy to be honest. 

Jim felt…  _ off  _ for a brief second and Toby looked up to see him staring down the hallway with a weird face. 

“What’s up?” Toby sat up and frowned. 

“Nothing… just, thought I heard something.” Jim shrugged. “It’s probably nothing.” 

Walking down the schoolyard and talking about Toby’s braces, Jim stopped when he saw a group of school bullies standing around a locker. He caught just a glimpse of poor Eli looking terrified before the locker door slammed shut. 

He looked behind him to see Toby looked resigned. He probably already knew what was going through Jim’s head. 

“Just try not to get punched?” Toby mumbled, looking worried. 

“I’ll do my best.” Jim patted him with an invisible arm, wheeling his bike over. 

“Tell me again, dweeb-face.” Steve, the school’s worst bully, slammed into the locker door. “Tell me again about the  _ creatures  _ and I  _ might  _ let you out!” He taunted. 

“Or you can… let him out right now.” Jim said before he could stop himself, suddenly realizing how that probably could be interpreted as him wanting a fight. “I mean, you know, it would be nice?” He wanted to shrink away because he was still tethered to Toby and Toby could feel it too when he got hurt. But Eli was already hurting. And this wasn’t  _ right.  _ He focused on that feeling of determination and made sure to glance back at Toby as a brief apology. 

“Nice would be you minding your own  _ business.”  _ Steve growled. “So, where were we?” He turned away from Jim. “Hmm… oh yeah, okay!” Steve said sarcastically. “You were telling me about the weirdos with some  _ monster  _ quirks you saw this morning, with fangs, and… what was it again, nerd?” 

“Stone for skin! In the canal!” Eli whimpered from inside the locker. “B- but the monsters couldn’t have been a quirk! They were too similar but extremely different, quirks don’t have those sorts of convergent similarities outside of families-” 

“Shut up nerd!” Steve  _ snarled,  _ his own mutation quirk standing out in a school with mostly 'invisible' quirks. Some sort of brute animal strength augmenting quirk that made him look almost like a werewolf. “Say  _ one more thing  _ about monsters and I’ll-” 

“Steve! Look, seriously, just let him out!” Jim set his bike aside and took a step forward, hands out. “We both know he’s not insulting you-” 

Jim felt sudden  _ panic  _ fill him when Steve walked over and picked him up with one hand by the front of his jacket,  _ very  _ easily because of his quirk. Jim’s feet dangled over a foot above the ground helplessly. 

“Let him out or you’ll. Do.  _ What?”  _ Steve growled under his breath, animalistic snarl making Jim’s head buzz. He instinctively summoned several hands to pull at Steve’s arms to try and stop himself from choking on his jacket collar. 

“O- okay, do it, punch me.” Jim choked slightly but he got himself some breathing room.  _ Thank you  _ super strong extra hands. 

“What?” Steve’s eyes glanced to the indents on his arms where they could both see invisible fingers pressing shapes into his skin. “Are you  _ asking  _ for a beating?” 

“Yeah,  _ yeah!” _ Jim  _ shoved  _ with all his hands and rubbed his throat when he broke free, Steve stumbling backwards. Score two for super strong extra hands! “Just go crazy! Wail on me!” Jim spread his arms out, knowing he had extra hands held up and ready to catch a punch if Steven actually tried. “Because we all know how this goes, Steve! Big scary guy with big scary quirk hurts the little guys! And in twenty years that’s all anyone will see you as, some mean jerk with a scary quirk working in a muffler shop and smart, actually  _ nice  _ people like Eli will have a career in software and he’ll be a  _ billionaire.”  _

“I-I do like computers!” Eli yelped as Steve punched the locker door and dented it slightly. 

“Let him out!” Toby called, looking terrified but  _ proud  _ and waving his fist in the air. “Let him out!” 

The chant slowly got picked up, most of the students standing around not liking Steve and his jerky attitude either. Steve’s pointed ears angled down slightly, looking like a cornered animal. 

“Palchuck! What’s going on here?” The door to the school slammed open when Coach Lawrence nearly busted it down making a conveniently timed entrance. 

“Uh, nothing sir.” Steve smiled innocently, fangs not helping his image. 

“Why aren’t you at practice?” Lawrence yelled suspiciously. 

“I was helping  _ Eli,  _ here.” Steve opened the locker carelessly. Eli looked too afraid to say anything. “He was  _ stuck.”  _ It came out as more of a growl than anything else. 

“Don’t growl at me, boy! On the double! Now!” The door slammed behind him as Coach Lawrence stomped off. 

Steve swung the locker shut on Eli again and leaned in close to Jim. 

“Friday, at noon. You? And me.” Steve’s pointed claw hurt Jim’s chest a bit and Jim shoved him away with invisible hands. Steve snarled and shoved him back twice as hard, Toby appearing behind him and catching him before he could fall. “Bring your stupid boyfriend if he wants a pounding too.” Steve stalked away with all the charisma of an angry bear without another word. 

Jim reached an arm out and opened the locker door, Eli falling out and laughing as his voice cracked. “Th- thank you!” 

“Just… try to avoid that jerk, okay Eli?” Jim sighed and picked his bike up.

* * *

“Dude, you really freaking scared me there for a sec!” Toby whined, tether hooked to Jim on his bike and physical so Jim couldn’t speed off ahead without him. “But wow! What a freaking show! We were  _ awesome!  _ I mean, we’re probably not gonna live past Friday, but what a way to go!” Toby’s voice cracked. “Good thing your mom’s a doctor!” 

Speaking of the lovely Doctor L, she drove up pretty soon after. Jim and her talked for a bit before she had to leave for work and Toby laughed with a wheeze. 

“Man, you really mother your mother a lot.” It wasn’t an insult, not when Toby could feel the love and worry for her from Jim’s tether. It was always freaking amazing knowing how much love Jim fit into his heart for other people. “It’s awesome Jimbo, don’t get me wrong, I just think you worry about her as much as  _ I _ worry about… everything!” They both laughed. 

“You gonna stay tethered tonight?” Jim waved a visible hand through the short glowing leash still between them. 

“If you’re cool with it?” Toby fidgeted awkwardly on his bike. Being tethered to someone while they slept could get awkward. Dreams had a bad habit of bouncing across the tether in the  _ weirdest  _ ways. “I- I dunno, I’m just worried about that weird amulet thing.” He looked down at Jim’s bag. It was still a faint little  _ presence  _ against his tether to Jim, something he’d  _ never  _ felt before. It was driving him  _ crazy  _ all day. 

“I don’t mind if you leave it.” Jim shrugged. “Again, Tobes, seriously, you know it doesn’t bother me.” Toby felt an invisible hand nudge him on the shoulder and he laughed awkwardly. 

“Yeah okay, thanks dude.” Toby smiled at him. “Hey, text me when you’re headed to sleep? I’ll see if I can work myself up to dismissing it by then so neither of us wakes up in the middle of the night thinking we’re dying.” 

“I will, Tobes!” Jim headed towards his house with a wave. Toby waved back even though he couldn’t see him. 

“And text me if the amulet thing does anything weird!” 

“I will! See you tomorrow!” 

Toby shook his head and turned towards his Nana’s tether, shining a gentle yellow at the other end as it met his half. Jim didn’t think the amulet was anything serious, he could tell. Toby on the other hand had a  _ very  _ bad feeling about it. 

Maybe it was just stupid anxiety, Toby reasoned. After all what harm could some talking amulet be? 

Thirty minutes later Toby was trying to ignore the faint nervousness from Jim’s tether, eating dinner with his Nana and just trying to enjoy some pie. Jim’s tether kept… tugging on him. Something felt… wrong. Very wrong. 

But Toby ignored it. Because Jim could take care of himself and he didn’t need a clingy empath freaking out over him every other minute! Toby was sure he was fine, probably just watching a horror movie or something. 

Except suddenly the tether  _ flared  _ bright with panic and Toby was tripping over his chair trying to get up before he even realized what he was doing. 

“Toby-pie?” He couldn’t even feel Nana’s worry, Jim was screaming  _ fear  _ so loud. There was a  _ bang  _ from the tether and his head felt like it had gotten slammed into a wall or something. 

“S- sorry Nana gotta go-'' Toby faceplanted trying to get out the door. There was another pain on the top of his head. 

“Oh dear, I see.” Nana said, sounding concerned. “Go make sure James is okay, alright dear? We don’t want another problem like the time-” 

“Yeah yeah Nana thanks I’ll be back in a bit!” Toby would apologize to her for being rude later but  _ everything in him  _ was screaming panic from Jim’s tether and he couldn’t think of  _ anything else.  _

He didn’t think he’d ever sprinted across the street so fast in his  _ life.  _ He slammed Jim’s front door open without bothering to knock, following his tether’s glowing line through the floor. The basement! 

Toby barreled down the stairs. 

_ Jim’s tether dimmed.  _

“JIM! Jim are you okay?!” He yelled, struggling not to trip. Dimmed tethers could mean Jim had just fallen asleep or it could be like the time he’d gotten a concussion doing tricks on his bike and- 

“Oh dear.” A big freaky guy was standing over Jim’s body and everything in Toby was  _ screaming  _ so he didn’t hesitate. 

“GET AWAY FROM MY BEST FRIEND!” Toby picked a piece of charcoal for the furnace up and chunked it at the stranger, running towards Jim. 

“Ow!” The charcoal hit the stranger in his eyes, at least  _ one _ of all six of them. “Excuse me-!” 

“Stop hurting Blinky-”  _ Another  _ big freaky guy was standing over him now and Toby reached for Jim’s tether. 

He ran, pulling Jim’s tether solid and using it to fling Jim towards him and trying to drag him up towards the stairs. 

“Aaarrrgghh, my dear friend, could you-” 

Toby was not very fast and  _ definitely  _ not strong enough to carry Jim all the way up the stairs, even running on adrenaline. The freaking humongous guy picked them both up easily and carried them down from the stairs. 

“Put us down!” Toby yelled. “Don’t hurt Jim you big  _ jerks!” _

“Easy there, young one! We have no intention of harming Master Jim!” The stranger with six eyes had a hand up to his face and was squinting in pain. “Why is it always the eyes..?” He mumbled. 

“Blinky okay?” The big one rumbled, not putting Toby down even when he hit his hands as hard as he could. Actually, that just ended up hurting Toby’s hands. It felt like… it was made of stone? 

What the heck kinda quirk did this guy have?

“I will be alright, I do wish to make sure Master Jim is alright after passing out in such a way.” 

“What did you  _ do  _ to him?” Toby said stubbornly, scowling at them. 

“Nothing!” The smaller one raised his hands up defensively. “I merely wished to discuss… something very important with him!” His four hands twisted, wringing nervously. “I wasn’t expecting this… this spell? Between you two?” One of his hands motioned towards the dim line still between Jim and Toby. “I wasn’t aware humans had any access to such magic in this day and age-” 

Toby stared at them. “Magic? Dude it’s my freaking quirk!” 

The two big strangers in Jim's basement stared at him like  _ he  _ was the one talking crazy. 

“Quirk? Superpower? Like, the weird powers nearly everyone’s got? Humans developed them for the first time like a few generations ago and they’ve been getting super powerful ever since...” 

Toby’s panicked rambling faded away as he realized something. 

These two giant people didn’t know what quirks were. His words weren’t ringing  _ any  _ bells in their heads obviously, since they were still just staring at him. Before he’d assumed they just had very weird and freaky physical mutation quirks and were trying to break into Jim’s house or something. 

“You two aren’t um. Human. Are you?” Toby said numbly, feeling himself slowly start to go from panic to  _ losing his freaking mind.  _

The big one chuckled while the smaller one crossed all four of his arms with a frown. 

“Of course not! However could you have mistaken us for humans?” 

“I have a classmate with purple skin, you guys are weird but not completely out of the question.” Toby mumbled, not even paying attention to what he was saying. His head was feeling kinda fuzzy. “Do you guys seriously not know people have superpowers now? I swear it’s not magic, if it was we’d call it that probably.” He was totally rambling but he was freaking out right now and he didn’t know what to do. His head was aching from Jim’s tether and Jim was  _ still passed out.  _ “So if you didn't hurt him what um- what happened to Jim?” Toby’s voice climbed several pitches. 

“He… may have been rather startled when he saw me,” The smaller one said awkwardly, splaying his palms together. “And I attempted to avoid surprising him further but clearly, we are… not very reassuring to humans, even with these… ‘superpowers’ you’re describing. And then he fainted.” 

“He fainted?” Toby was officially Worried. “Did he hit his head? I’m pretty sure I felt him hit his head like, three times.” 

The smaller one frowned. “I believe he may have earlier, but what do you mean you  _ felt  _ it? Does it have to do with this connection?” He waved one of his hands through the faint glowing line. 

“Yeah yeah, hey can you put us down? If you don’t hurt us or anything I swear I won’t try to run again or anything, I just  _ really  _ need to make sure he’s okay.” Toby was pretty sure the absolute desperation in his voice was what sold it. The two big… monster things traded a glance. 

“Very well, and I do apologize sincerely for the misunderstanding.” The smaller one nodded his head officially. “I am known as Blinky, this is my companion Aaarrrgghh.” 

Aaarrrgghh hummed as he set them both down carefully, patting Toby on the head. He didn’t care because he was already checking Jim’s head and making sure he wasn’t bleeding or anything. Right there on the top of Jim’s head were some lumps, exactly where Toby’s head was hurting. 

“Shoot shoot shoot! You two better hope he didn’t get a concussion from this!” Toby fretted, looking around for somewhere better to lay Jim down than the concrete. Should he get an ice pack for Jim’s head? Probably. 

“Cun… cushion?” Aaarrrgghh tilted his head somewhat. 

“Head injury, humans are like super bad with those.” Toby dug deep through the tether and tried to tell if Jim was hurt anywhere else. Nothing he could really notice, but there was something that could either be Jim having a heart attack or a weird dream. Toby was betting on dream because he was pretty sure a heart attack at fifteen was impossible. 

“If I may..?” Blinky sounded like he was waiting for something and Toby stared at him blankly. His whole brain was still screaming alerts about Jim. “Your name?” Blinky coughed. 

“Oh! Um… my name’s Toby D. Or Tobias, I guess.” He looked down at Jim and noticed the tether looking a little brighter. At least there was that. 

“Toby D.! Normally I would be loathe to bring another human into troll affairs, but I believe we both have crucial information that needs to be shared.” Blinky nodded seriously. “Besides,” Blinky cleared his throat. “You  _ have  _ already seen us, and clearly you are a loyal and determined companion to young Master Jim. Such a stalwart assistant shall be invaluable in the trying times to come.” 

“Yeah, you’re… you’re right I guess, okay. But I gotta get Jim laid down somewhere that’s not the floor for when he wakes up.” Toby yelped when Aaarrrgghh picked Jim up surprisingly gently and started shuffling up the creaky stairs. 

They were halfway to the living room when Toby’s brain finally kicked back into gear and a few words clicked. 

"Wait, did you say  _ troll  _ affairs?" 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love writing Jim and Toby interacting in this AU but it DOES get a little complicated since if you write from Toby's perspective you're... still getting Jim's perspective. Toby's hyperfocused on his tethers at all times, he pays attention to Everything from them. So if it's a little confusing lemme know - I'm trying to find a good way to write it without being too complicated! 
> 
> Steve's quirk - kinda makes him look like a campy werewolf, but in the case where you're noooot quite so sure if the animal he's mixed with is actually a wolf or not???? Very intimidating though and VERY angry whenever he hears the word "monster". Most of Arcadia High is generally human looking with only a few that really stand out. 
> 
> If Jim gets hurt, Toby can feel it. It means that Toby is a TOTAL worrier and frets a lot and Jim actually tries to THINK before resolving a conflict with a fight. Pros and cons, pros and cons.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you guys for reading! I've got a tumblr for Trollhunters at @weregreatatcrime, which also doubles as my blog for some of the less popular fandoms out there. Go on and check me out there and check my #quirk au tag!


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